by Jamie Knight
His wife sighed. “He threatened to take her baby because she wasn’t complying with his every demand,” Malina explained.
“What?!” I screamed, standing up sharply, the fuck-the-world punk rearing his head once again. Forget stupid punching. I was ready to strangle Dad with his own hideous tie.
“Yes, it’s not very nice, is it?” Malina glared, looking straight at Dad, making her chastisement quite clear.
“You are going to tell her it was an empty threat,” I said, it in no way being a request.
“I was just doing what was best for Billy and —”
“I’m a third-degree black-belt,” I pointed out.
“Wait, you know about Billy?”
“Yes,” I said bluntly.
“She’s back in Vegas?”
“Yes, and we’re back together,” I said, slowly unclenching my fist.
“I didn’t know. I’m really sorry. I promise I’ll back off. You two do what you think is best,” he said, seeming to realize that being involved at all meant backing off a bit.
“You were a great father but not the best dad,” I said, bluntly, “if you want a do-over, have a kid with Malina. She’s certainly young enough. Then Billy will be an uncle.”
There was an uncomfortable silence where they passed odd looks between them. Suddenly crestfallen, my stepmother looked down at the floor.
“We can’t actually. It’s my fault,” Malina explained, trying and failing to hide her depression.
“Now, honey, it’s no one’s fault that your infertile,” Dad said, putting an arm around her.
I was surprised by this show of support. Maybe the old man actually had changed over the years, at least in some ways.
Dad looked at me. “You could always come back to the casino and take over your old job. It has to pay better than what you’re doing. Even if it doesn’t, I’ll give you a raise.”
I sat down in the chair across from him. “I can’t, Dad. It would be like an alcoholic buying into a bar.”
“Oh, that old silliness. You can’t have a gambling addiction! You’re rich, and you didn’t lose anything,” Dad said.
“Except for my mind, morals, and self-respect. The money was yours, not mine. The money I’m making now is all mine. I’ve pulled myself up by my bootstraps from nothing and become my own man, just like you’ve always said people should. Like you did in the beginning. It may not be as much as you have or as much as you wanted, but I earned every bit of it. None of which even touches on the two years with Lila and Billy that I lost because of my addiction. I’m not losing them again.”
“I get that. Why don’t you ask them over here so I can apologize in person?”
That actually sounded like a good idea. I didn’t want to take Dad around to Aria’s and disrupt Lila’s sanctuary. Bringing her to my place felt more like neutral ground.
Lila wasn’t answering her phone, so I decided to go down there myself. It was a bit of a risk, but it was worth the chance.
Unconsciously wiping my feet on the mat, I knocked lightly on the door, not wanting to come off as too aggressive. However, when the door opened, if looks could kill, I would have dropped dead right off the stoop.
“Hi, Aria.”
“She’s not here,” Aria said bluntly.
“Where did she go?”
Lila’s friend just glared at me. Her arms crossed tightly in front of her. I realized that she didn’t trust me, and at least part of that was because of what my dad had done. He had a way of pissing people off. It was clear that Aria wasn’t going to tell me anything, so I got out of there and went back to my apartment, where my dad and stepmother were waiting.
“She’s gone,” I said, glaring at my father.
“Gone?” Dad asked dumbly.
“You scared her off again. We were coming back here when we saw you pull up. She literally ran away at the sight of you.”
I was going to say more, again none of it good, but I held my tongue. It just wasn’t worth it anymore. My love and my baby were gone, and I was never going to see them again.
Chapter Seventeen - Lila
Austin, Texas, was a culture shock. It wasn’t really that much smaller than Vegas, and the crowds weren’t much bigger, especially during tourist season on the strip, or the crime rate that much higher. The big difference was the laidback attitude. The Texans I met were relaxed and civil, trying as hard as they could to help me.
One of the first things I did when we got there was go shopping for clothes with Ryan’s wife, Ryan footing the entire bill. They really were kind and generous people, though I still planned on paying them back every cent when I could. Which might be sooner than it otherwise would have been because Ryan managed to pull some strings and get me a one-bedroom apartment for six-hundred-dollars a month. It was a fourth-floor walk-up, but we made do.
If all that wasn’t enough sweetness for one human to contain, Ryan also gave me a job as a receptionist at his company, something I was more than qualified for. His main office happened to have one of the top-rated private daycares in the city.
I was at my desk one day about two weeks after we arrived when I answered the phone and just about fell out of my chair.
“I’ve got the monthly report for Sure Thing Graphics,” Carl said after I had done my bland introductory speech, letting the caller know who they had reached, just in case they didn’t know.
I had nearly forgotten that Ryan owned Carl’s advertising firm, which was quite profitable going by the numbers Carl was reading off. I wondered if he always did that or if he had been deputized for that month. It didn’t seem like a job a copywriter would do — more an Art Director or something like that. Did they take it in turns?
None of it was a particularly good or healthy thing to think. I could feel myself start to panic, realizing that I would have to speak again at some point.
“I will pass those numbers on—” I said as quickly as I could.
“Lila?!”
I was just about to hang up.
“Please listen, Lila,” Carl begged, making me halt.
I still didn’t speak but I sat there and listened to what he had to say figuring I owed him that much at least.
“My father is through trying to control you. He didn’t really mean it when he threatened to take Billy away. He was just talking out of his ass like he so often does. I know that it is hard for you to believe, mostly because you know him, but we came to an understanding, and Dad is done with all the strong-arm bullshit. He has backed off and will let us raise our son how we see fit. Please come back to Vegas or at least wait until I can get to Austin. I miss you both so much.”
I hung up without speaking. It was all too sudden. I couldn’t talk, let alone commit to anything significant like that.
I could run away again. It would be so easy to just get up, get Billy out of daycare, and leave. Make it so Carl couldn’t find me. But I didn’t, not only because I owed Ryan and his family so much already. To leave again so soon would be like spitting in his face.
I just sat there at my desk, too afraid to move, too overwhelmed to make a decision. I didn’t want to keep running. Billy cried for his daddy every night at bedtime, not even having the photo in his crib anymore. But I was still terrified of Carl’s dad. Conrad tended to have that effect on people.
I had always heard that indecision was a decision itself, and it really seemed to be true. I vowed that if Carl did come, I would go back with him to Vegas. Conrad be damned. If he didn’t come, I would take it as a sign and make the best of my new life in Austin.
The clock ticked by at an agonizing pace until it was very close to six, which was closing time. The hands were approaching five minutes to the hour when I heard a slam that made me jump in my seat. The next thing I knew, Carl was skidding to a stop in front of me, not stopping quite right and stumbling to the floor like something out of Buster Keaton.
“You really scared me,” he said
, recovering quickly, “I went to your house and you weren’t there, and Aria wouldn’t tell me where you were. That’s a really loyal friend you’ve got there.”
“I know,” I agreed.
He grabbed onto the desk, staring into my face. “I couldn’t find anything, not a trace! I was looking for you, and my dad had his people on the case. Not the way you think, not at all. Like I said, he’s done with that shit. I included myself when I said he was going to leave us alone to figure it all out. He understands it has to be that way if he wants to be included as Billy’s grandpa. Otherwise, we all walk together.”
“Seriously?” I asked, it not sounding like the Conrad I knew.
“Yeah, I know it’s weird, right. I made it clear to Dad that he wouldn’t see Billy again if he didn’t back off, and if he went after you again, he and any goons he sent would have to go through me first.”
“You are a good fighter,” I conceded.
“Damn right. As anyone who tries to mess with my girl, or my baby is going to find out. Painfully I would wager.”
My heart swelled with love for Carl. It was all I could do not to cry. He really was ready to step up and be a father to Billy and a partner to me. I wanted him so much it hurt. I doubted that Conrad would ever actually apologize to me but was willing to let that go.
“I suppose we’d better go back to my place then,” I said, fighting back tears of joy.
“It’s closing time,” Ryan said, coming in looking at his Rolex.
“Hey, Mr. White,” Carl said.
“Well, as I live and breath, Jinx Willcox, how ya been, man?”
“Busy,” Carl admitted.
Ryan looked at the two of us. “That’s good. You two know each other?”
“He’s my baby daddy,” I said with a smirk.
Ryan blinked for a second, then raised up his hands. “Congratulations!”
“Thanks,” Carl said, as humble as I had ever seen him.
“Shall we?” I asked, taking Carl’s arm.
“Let’s,” my love agreed.
“You know, you could have just called in the numbers,” Ryan joked, locking the door behind us.
Getting our son from daycare, we put him in the car Ryan lent me — complete with car seat — and I dove us back to my apartment, nestling the tires up to the curb in my usual spot across the street from the building. I let Carl get Billy out of his car seat and take him inside.
“You know, I nearly put monthly report duty off onto Chris. I’m happy I didn’t, though. Otherwise, I would never have found you again.”
He then stopped in the middle of the road, looking at me with deepest, darkest concern.
“I’m really sorry I left you like that. I have a much better idea now, not only how much it must have hurt at the time and what a shock it was to finally find me again.”
I took his arm, putting my other hand on our son’s back. “I have a better understanding of why you did it and how much it must have hurt not to be able to be there. Now get the baby out of the middle of the road!”
Moving like he had just woken from a dream, Carl sprinted across the street to the safety of the sidewalk.
“Sorry!”
“You’re forgiven,” I said, kissing both him and Billy.
We made the best of my tiny apartment, and things felt alright again. Almost as good as they had been the morning after we had gone to Carl’s for dinner, and things had gotten carried away. Thought the thing was I was no longer sure that was the case. Maybe things had gone exactly like they were supposed to. I didn’t entirely trust Conrad but was willing to put up with that if it meant that we could be a proper family.
Chapter Eighteen - Jinx
The apartment was smaller than I expected, but one-bedrooms tended to be, no matter how gentrified the area was. I sat on the couch, still cradling Billy, who had been asleep when we had picked him up from daycare.
“I think he should go to bed,” Lila said.
“Just give him a minute,” I said.
As though we had rehearsed it, Billy woke up and looked up at me, still blinking sleepily.
“Daddy!” he said happily before snuggling back into my arms and going back to sleep.
“How did you know?
“I didn’t. I just kind of guessed.”
“Good guess.”
Lila showed me to the bedroom, and I put Billy down into the brand new cradle, which still had the tags on. It was okay but didn’t have nearly the same character as the one at Aria’s place.
We just watched our son sleep for a moment, Lila hugging me from behind, her chin resting against my arm before leading me back out into the living room.
“Promise me again that Conrad will leave us alone,” she said as we sat on the couch.
“I promise,” I said.
“Pinky swear?” Lila asked, extending her little finger.
“Pinky swear,” I said, hooking my finger around hers.
“Oh, no.”
“What?” I asked.
She blushed. “I just remembered the last time I made you do that.”
“What about it?”
“You really don’t remember?” she asked with a giggle.
“Oh, right,” I said, my face getting noticeably warmer.
The last time she had made me pinky swear was when we were having sex for the first time, and I promised I would be gentle.
“You kept that promise, too,” Lila whispered, scooting closer to me.
“Of course, I did. It was a pinky swear.”
I reached out and started gently stroking her inner thigh, clad in a pair of black leggings. She gasped. Her surprise soon turned to what I recognized as a moan of pleasure. Scooting down a bit on the couch, Lila spread her legs, giving me easier access.
I worked my way up her thigh and then onto her pussy, stroking her lightly through both her leggings and her panties as I kissed her gently on the neck the way I knew that she liked. I slipped my and down the front of her panties and gently massaged her pussy lips, feeling their delicious, tender heat as she moaned.
With Lila’s help, I got her leggings and panties off and assumed the position between her thighs so I could once again taste her delicate sweetness. She moaned softly as I licked and sucked her delicious pussy, working a finger in when it seemed like she was ready. Getting a second finger in there, I started to work her lovely little pussy as I swirled my tongue hard on her clit, bringing her to a massive, shaking orgasm.
Giving Lila time to recover after gently licking her pussy clean, I slowly got up. Keeping one hand cupped on her pussy, I maintained contact and waited patiently as she undid my pants, eventually unfurling my cock. Taking a moment just to admire it, she began to worship it with her tongue. Marking long, soft, trails along the hard, throbbing shaft, giving a gentle swirl around the head every so often to keep things interesting.
After getting me ready, she dropped her entire sweet little mouth on to my cock and sucked like she was making up for lost time — most likely because she kind of was. I could certainly vouch for the fact that it was what I was doing when eating her pussy. Mostly anyway. She really did also just taste that good.
Lila sucked hard until I filled her mouth with my cum, all of which she swallowed with a smile. I leaned down and kissed her tenderly. She returned my affections while lightly stroking my cock as I kept a finger in her pussy.
Keeping a hold of my cock, Lila turned over, so she was on the couch on her knees. Lifting the back of her skirt with her free hand, she stroked the head of my cock against her sweet little pussy with the other. When she was ready, my love pulled me gently forward, eventually letting go of my cock, so I could take over.
I took her by the hips and started to gently pump her, easing my massive cock in and out of her, the fit still pretty snug. Lila hummed contentedly as I moved, apparently able to feel every inch as I moved inside her.
Slowly I started to pump a bit h
arder, easing Lila into it, fucking her to a screaming quivering orgasm, the sound muffled by my hand. The vibrations of her body sent me over the edge, causing me to spill my seed into her with relief. I eased gently out of her and lightly licked her pussy clean. Then I fed Lila my cock for her to do the same.
Lila got onto her knees and turning to face me as I knelt on the cushion next to her. She not only sucked me dry but kept right on going until I gave her a second load, which she swallowed with a smile, leaning back against the couch, spent but happy.
I sat down properly, zipping up, and pulled Lila to me, kissing her gently on the top of her head. She sighed and snuggled closer to me.
“That was amazing,” my love said, smiling beatifically.
“Agreed,” I agreed, as though there was any argument on the matter, “then again, make-up sex usually is.”
“Make-up sex?” Lila asked.
“I suppose. Though I guess we didn’t really have a problem. Before you left anyway. This was more like reunion sex. Which might be even better than make-up sex. Turns out there is something better than make-up sex,” I theorized.
“Well, whatever you call it, it was awesome, and I hoped we can enjoy it for a bit longer.”
“Sure, how about now?” I suggested.
“I’d love to, but I need a bit more time. You fucked my pussy good, and I’m still tingling,” she admitted.
“A mixed compliment, but thanks just the same.”
“It’s what you’re getting,” Lila laughed.
I kissed her again, Lila reciprocating with equal passion. There was no doubt about it. We were back together. Then and forever.
“I love you, baby,” I said, holding her tight.
“I love you too, honey.”
“May I ask you a question?” I asked.
“Of course,” she said.
“Will you marry me?”
“What?” Lila asked, sitting up so she could see me.
“Will you marry me?” I repeated.
She pulled her hands up to her mouth. “Don’t tease me. I can’t handle it.”